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21 March 2016

I was sorting through papers the other day, as one does in an effort to clear a workspace, or try to fit just one more piece of paper onto an overstuffed pile of to be filed papers.Ah, that's where I put my birth certificate! For some unknown reason I read it through again - though, honestly, I do remember the particulars of my birth day. What I had not registered in my brain before, is what my father's occupation was at the time.

My father was a sales engineer with Revere Corporation of America. Huh, that I did not know. The Revere Corporation of America was based in Wallingford, CT. Not too far from where my family lived at the time in Woodbridge. According to the Smithsonian Libraries Trade Literature Collections, the corporation designed and manufactured "electronic weighing and force measurement systems for industry; load cells for industrial and aerospace electrical engineering applications; readout and control instrumentation; inventory control systems." Later, my father went to work for Northeast Engineering Co., also based in Wallingford. By the 1960's, my father had gone off on his own to build a small company manufacturing fluid dynamic control switches - some of which I actually assembled on school vacations. He later sold the patent he had and moved on to other interests. Ah, the things we learn when we really read our documents!

15 March 2016

Or so says Ancestry.com. So I start thinking about how this came about. My parents are both US born.My grandparents are 3 US born and 1 NS, Canada born.My great grandparents are 4 NS, Canada born and 4 US born.My 2x great grandparents are 8 NS, Canada born and 8 US born.My 3x great grandparents are 16 NS, Canada born and 16 US born.Then it gets a little messy. Some of the older Canadian ancestors came from Scotland, Ireland, Germany and the US. Most of the US ancestors are old New England ancestors, and therefore English generally speaking, except the Dutch and French ancestors.So why is about 1/3 of my ethnic makeup Irish? My guess is that the "Scottish" family ancestors could be as much Irish as Scottish. Same for the English I suppose, but to a lessor degree.It's a mystery. But one that I will embrace as I continue to learn how to play my celtic harp, drink Guinness and sing lovely ballads.Sláinte na bhfear agus go maire na mná go deo!